#1: Olivia's Night Stars Baby Quilt
The baby shower is over, so I finally get to share! Y'all, I am just in love with this baby quilt that my client Olivia pieced for her sister in-law's baby shower. The pattern is called "Night Stars," designed by Emily Dennis of Quilty Love (available on Etsy here).
My client shared that this quilt has much more extensive piecing than the projects she usually makes and it took her a lot longer to complete the quilt top than she anticipated, but she did such an amazing job.
We used Quilter's Dream Bamboo batting, a favorite of mine for baby quilts because it's lightweight, made of natural fibers that breathe, but so much softer and smooshier than 100% cotton. (I stock Bamboo and other Quilters Dream battings by the roll for my long arm clients, but you can also find it in package sizes on Amazon here). I used Glide thread in White because I wanted the quilting design to blend and be less visible against the white and gray fabrics of the stars, but pop more against that dark navy background.
I am so annoyed with myself for neglecting to take a "before" photo of this top before I started quilting it! I'll bet these hunter greens, mauves, dusty blues and terra cotta calicos bring back memories for a lot of you, too. Very "Laura Ashley," don't you think? I don't know what the pattern may have been, but the on-point setting of the fence rail/Roman square blocks interspersed with larger light and dark squares reminded me of a garden trellis, which seemed fitting because MaryBeth has a beautiful garden that she enjoys. She told me I could quilt whatever I wanted on this top, so I chose Joyful E2E and sized the pattern to create the impression that the vines in the quilting design are climbing up the patchwork trellis, just like the plants in her garden.
PSST!! I'd Love to Quilt for YOU!
By the way, if you or any of your quilty friends has a quilt top or two that needs quilting, I'd be delighted to quilt for you! My turnaround for edge-to-edge quilting is currently running about 3-4 weeks, and you can click here to find out how to book your quilt with me
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| My Client Olivia's Night Stars Baby Quilt with Circle Melodrama E2E |
My client shared that this quilt has much more extensive piecing than the projects she usually makes and it took her a lot longer to complete the quilt top than she anticipated, but she did such an amazing job.
I am absolutely in love with everything about this quilt -- the pattern, the fabric choices, and the Circle Melodrama quilting design we chose for the quilting. This baby's nursery has an outer space theme, and of course there are a ton of explicitly space-themed quilting designs we could have chosen. Little quilted astronauts and space ships, moons and stars -- it's all out there in the wide, wild world of digital quilting designs!
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| Circle Melodrama E2E Suggests Planets, Satellites and Stars |
However, I really loved the clean modern aesthetic of the quilt top and I didn't want to detract from that with a quilting design that was too pictorial or specific. I don't like to do a star quilting design on top of a star piecing design because I felt like two different kinds of star shapes would fight one another, either. I love the way that Circle Melodrama E2E just suggests stars, planets, and the movement of planets within a solar system, but in a more abstract way -- and I was delighted that my client agreed with me.
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| Top Prior to Quilting, Approximately 49 x 49 |
The great thing about a quilting design like this one is that, on THIS quilt it reads like something from outer space, but if I quilted it on a different quilt with different fabrics, it can look like a completely different kind of design. Here's the backing side of the quilt:
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| Circle Melodrama, Backing Side |
We used Quilter's Dream Bamboo batting, a favorite of mine for baby quilts because it's lightweight, made of natural fibers that breathe, but so much softer and smooshier than 100% cotton. (I stock Bamboo and other Quilters Dream battings by the roll for my long arm clients, but you can also find it in package sizes on Amazon here). I used Glide thread in White because I wanted the quilting design to blend and be less visible against the white and gray fabrics of the stars, but pop more against that dark navy background.
#2: MaryBeth's Fence Rail Vintage UFO Quilt
I said that the second quilt I'm sharing today is "nearly as old as I am," but that's because I'm a liar in denial about how old I actually am... 😏
My client (and good friend!) MaryBeth thinks she started this quilt about 35 years ago, when her adult son was a baby. When she came across the quilt top recently, seeing the fabrics again brought back a flood of memories. She thinks she set it aside because of some question or concern around adding borders, but decided that it was time to get it quilted and finished TODAY, just as it is.
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| Joyful E2E on Vintage Quilt Top, Circa Mid 'Eighties |
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| 56 x 80 Vintage UFO Quilt Completed with Joyful E2E |
The batting for this one was a package of Warm & Natural cotton that my client had on hand, and I quilted it with Glide thread in color Pearl. Her backing was just a plain unbleached muslin, but look how much the quilting design dresses it up:
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| Joyful E2E on Unbleached Muslin Backing |
Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE collaborating with my clients to finish their quilts? Seriously; I might even enjoy quilting other people's quilts more than I enjoy quilting my own. There is nothing like seeing that big smile on someone's face when they pick up their quilt, or getting that happy text message or email (or FaceTime call -- you know who you are! 😘) the day the quilt package arrives on a customer's doorstep.
PSST!! I'd Love to Quilt for YOU!
By the way, if you or any of your quilty friends has a quilt top or two that needs quilting, I'd be delighted to quilt for you! My turnaround for edge-to-edge quilting is currently running about 3-4 weeks, and you can click here to find out how to book your quilt with meMy To-Do list for this week includes wrapping up the vintage Corn & Beans quilt repair that I'm working on for a client, getting my own sampler blocks back up on my design wall, and clearing out a couple of cabinets in my studio that need to get moved out before my new long arm machine gets delivered!
I'll be linking up today's post with the following linky parties:
MONDAY
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
BOMs Away at What a Hoot Quilts
TUESDAY
To-Do Tuesday at ChrisKnits
WEDNESDAY
Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
THURSDAY
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Free Motion Mavericks with Muv and AndreeFRIDAY
Whoop Whoop Fridays at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre
TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday
SATURDAY
UFO Busting at Tish in Wonderland
I love seeing before and after as it is like night and day difference isn't it! Nice work as always Rebecca:) Those circles also remind me of rings in the lake.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty baby quilt!!! And I'm sure your client will be thrilled to finally have her quilt quilted! Nice E2E on each of them.
ReplyDeleteWhat great finishes for your clients. I loved the Night Stars pattern and circle quilting. The flower quilting was a great add to the split rail blocks. I did recognize many of the fabrics!
ReplyDeleteBoth are so pretty! I love the colors in the Night stars one - they are some of my favorite! and.... ever admit to being over 29.... haha
ReplyDeleteLove the circles on the baby quilt.... gives a feeling of orbits and movement so well!
ReplyDeleteReally interesting to see a photo of before and after of your quilting. Both are beautiful quilts and quilting, but your circle quilting is mesmerizing. What a great theme for a baby room too!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilting on both! I like the idea of a space themed nursery!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilting on both! I like the idea of a space themed nursery!
ReplyDeleteThe baby quilt is wonderful! Of course anything in blue and white thrills me. The older quilt looks great too, the quilting designs are perfect for each quilt. I like having a more plain backing, it's so nice to be able to view the quilting designs. Happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilting work on both quilts, Rebecca. The star quilt is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI love your quilting choices on both of these quilts. The circles are perfect on the baby quilt and the floral panto is perfect on your friends finished UFO.
ReplyDeleteNight Stars is just awesome! I think it's my favorite version that I've seen of this pattern.
ReplyDeletegood job!
ReplyDeleteYes, Night Stars is beautiful! (And "smooshier"--that's an official term, right??)
ReplyDeleteWonderful finishes!!! Thanks for linking up with To-Do Tuesday! Good luck with next week's goals.
ReplyDeleteThose are both fantastic finishes! Probably half a dozen fabrics from MaryBeth's UFO are in a quilt that my husband's aunt made us for our wedding...about 33 years ago. So it definitely fits in to about that same timeframe. So glad it got to be finished. -Andrea
ReplyDeleteThat circle quilting on the star quilt is amazing. Thanks for linking up with Thank Goodness it's Finished Friday.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca, those are both great all-over quilting designs that look great. Thanks for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks! Take care.
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